Stray Puppy Connor
by Reni7681
Summary: Stepping out into another ARC, into another reality, gave Connor a new chance on friendship and maybe love.
1. Chapter 1

Characters/Pairing: Connor, Abby, Connor/Abby  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: Primeval and it's characters belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

AN: I was allowed to take a stray Connor from **evenstar_estel**'s fic **Cloudy With A Chance Of Connor**s home, to do with him what I like :P This is the result:  
AND A big thanks to XxbagpussxX for the betawork :D

Connor sat at his desk in the ARC and tried to think of something to write down in this damned report. Actually, he'd been here trying to write it for the last two hours, ever since he'd found himself being dragged through an anomaly that had appeared in the middle of the ARC...

It was the weirdest thing that ever happened to him, apart from the whole "finding dinosaurs running around in the modern world" thing.

When he had stepped out of that anomaly, he was kind of surprised to be still in the ARC Main Room. The alarm was blaring loudly.

Even weirder still, and also a little frightening, was the fact that there were about 15 or 16 other Connors there too. It was like one of those "hall of mirrors" you find at the funfair.

He looked around and saw one Connor in a suit, looking a bit like Lester. One looked like a goth, taken away from an innocent animal sacrifice and dressed all in black with eye-liner around his eyes. Another one was clad only in a pair of swimshorts, but most of them looked like him, give or take +/- 5 years.

He was trying to work out what had happened, and if it was his fault somehow, when he heard a loud whistle. He looked up and saw a sweaty looking girl.

Something about her looked familiar, but he couldn't recall how he could possibly know her.

She was a petite, white blonde with a cute face. When she opened her bra to make some of the other Connors shut up, he smiled. _She must be fun to be around, _he thought to himself.

Eventually, when all eyes were on her, or actually on her breasts, she closed her bra again and asked them all to follow her.

Two Connors were left behind to fix whatever had gone wrong, and the rest of them were led to the common room.

He sat down and listened to the girl, Abby, explaining what was going on. He was still trying to think how he knew her face. Bright blue eyes, cute smile and very blonde hair. He was certain he'd have remembered someone like that!

It wasn't from school, because she looked to be a year or two younger than him. He was the youngest in his classes by at least 2 years anyway, and never had much to do with the others in school. Uni? Well there was the same problem, maybe if she had started when he finished his degree … could be, but there was something about her face and voice that reminded him of something ARC related.

Then he got it. The very first Anomaly! She was the girl that was wounded whilst helping the little boy! The lizard girl. He and Stephen had found her lost in the woods, wandering about with the Coelurosauravus.

How odd that she seemed to be working in the ARC here! In _his_ reality, she had been checked out by a doctor and then sent home. He had talked her into handing the Coelurosauravus over to Stephen and promised that the lizard would be looked after well.

Abby was going around now, talking to each of the other Connors for a bit, smiling, asking questions. When it was his turn she asked him what he was doing when he got sucked into the Anomaly. He told her that he bad been working on the ADD, and asked if the mess down in the main room was his fault.

Abby told him that "her Connor" had tested out something and that he wasn't to blame for it. She asked him then if he had "his own Abby".

He shook his head and told her the story of their brief meeting. When he told her about the Coelurosauravus she smiled and said that she had Rex at home as a pet now. She was somewhat shocked to hear him talk about Claudia.

Connor told her about Stephen and Cutter and Hill, who he had seen down in the main room too. She laughed when he told her the first name of the soldier and asked if they were friends. Connor nodded and recited the events of the last weekend, where he was Hill's best man at his wedding with Sarah. Abby just smiled a cute little knowing smile before becoming serous again and asking him about Helen.

Helen was another thing out of the past. She had been killed 3 months ago in one of her own traps set for the ARC team. He noticed Abby try to hide a smile at that news. He guessed Helen was a problem in this reality as well and wondered if she was alive here.

When she said that it was Stephen who had been killed in her reality, Connor was shocked. One of the team was dead here?. He looked down and swallowed, trying to take it in. When he looked back up into Abby's eyes, he saw that there was more … It wasn't just Stephen that was dead here was it.

"Who else?" he asked quietly.

Abby's eyes grew misty, but she didn't cry. She just told him about Cutter's death only two weeks ago.

Connor was always emotional and when he heard about the death of his mentor and friend, there was a tear running down his cheek.

Abby looked at him with a sad smile and just reached out to wipe away the tear. Her touch sent a spark through him, and when she whispered "It's okay Conn." it made him shiver a little. No one had called him Conn in a very long time. It felt nice, comforting and homey.

It was really weird to get that kind of feeling from a girl he had only actually seen for 20 minutes, and that was 3 years ago. Okay, AND she was from a different dimension? Timeline? Reality?

He shook off the feelings he got from the petite blonde and asked her about her job at the ARC. She told him that she was the animal expert and was working on a project with plants in the moment.

In his ARC Stephen had done all the work with the animals, but he had retired a month back after he was wounded really badly. He had a wife and daughter to think about, he couldn't risk getting killed at work.

Lester had wanted to hire someone new, but nothing has happened since then. Maybe they could contact the Abby in his world. She seemed to belong into this ARC's version, and she said that working here was the best thing to happen to her in her life so far.

Abby smiled. "When you contact her … me … just take her to the ARC and show her some creatures. If she is like me, she will be happy to join the team. And Conn? Be patient with her!"

Connor was still thinking about the meaning of what she had said when she moved on to talk to the Leather-Pirate Connor.

Now he was back in his own ARC and had to write down what happened. Cutter had asked him what the Connor in the anomaly had done to cause all the other Connors to be brought there.

Connor laughed, embarrassed. "Actually, I didn't ask what he'd done, it was all a bit ... weird you know? Seeing all those others that looked like me, but weren't me..." He shook his head. It still didn't seem real, even now, but the nice feeling he had had when Abby touched him lingered and reminded him it was real. Perhaps he should try to find the lizard girl again? If she was half as nice as the Abby he had chatted to this afternoon, then she could be worth getting to know at least. He decided that he should mention it to Cutter and Lester and see if they could find her.

He sighed ... he still had to write it all down in that damned report! …


	2. Chapter 2

Two days after Connor had written down what happened to him in the anomaly, he still couldn't help but smile when he thought about Abby. Her smile, the way she had acted and her eyes... they would be etched in his memory forever.

He wondered if she was always like that. Most of all he was thinking about how it would be to work beside her.

All he knew was that her first name was Abby.

He had tried to find out more about her by looking up reports from the first anomaly. The tricky thing was it had been their first anomaly!

They hadn't been quite so thorough in their written reports back then and a lot of detail was missing. They had been scared and excited at the time and sadly there was nothing written about Abby, it was just descriptions of the creatures and the anomaly.

Connor talked to Lester and Cutter to see if they could remember anything, but that hadn't helped either.

On the bright side: they thought that trying to contact the girl and talking to her about a job in the ARC was a good idea. If only he could find her.

-o-

Connor was sitting at his laptop in his room at Cutter's house and sorted through his diary entries from that time. It wasn't the first time he had looked through the entries, he just hoped that he'd missed something. But even after reading it again and again he still found nothing new.

Finding Abby No-Last-Name was beginning to sound like a mission impossible.

It was way after midnight now and he couldn't reach Stephen because he was away on a cruise with his family, so Connor put aside the laptop and got out of his room. He was restless and needed to get out of the house.

He got into his car and just drove around for almost 20 minutes while he thought about how to find Abby before a memory flashed through his mind.

_Lizard! She had helped the boy. God … what was his name? Anyway … I could find the house again! Maybe he remembers her last name!_

Connor drove back home. He wanted to get some sleep so that he could drive to the Forest of Dean first thing in the morning. It was a long shot, but worth a try if it meant finding Abby.

When he arrived around noon he easily found the way to the house. He rang and when the boy's mother opened the door he let out a breath and smiled.

He asked her if her son was at home but his hopes were crushed. The woman told her that Ben was on a camping trip with his dad.

Connor's face fell and she smiled at him, maybe remembering him from three years ago and asked if she could help him.

"I don't suppose you remember the name of the girl that came here to look at that lizard your son found? I really need to get in contact with her" Connor said.

The woman shook her head "I'm sorry, it was a while ago now. I do remember she worked at Wellington zoo though. Ben had written to them with a photo of the lizard, asking what breed it was."

That was new information for Connor. Wellington Zoo. He could work with that! He thanked her and practically ran to his car. Lester had given him one day off to find the girl if it was that important to him. The zoo was only 2 hours away from the Forest of Dean and he got there right on time for the animal feedings.

_If she still works here, I'm sure I'll find her with the lizards, _Connor thought, but again he was disappointed. There were no lizards in the zoo anymore!

He walked to the information office and asked about Abby, but the redheaded girl behind the counter said she wasn't allowed to give out information about staff.

"Not even if she still works here?" he asked her, giving her his best 'lost puppy dog' eyes (at least, that's what Claudia had said they looked like),in hopes that it would help him to get even a small piece of information from the girl. Claudia always said that those eyes of his could get him anywhere he wanted if he tried.

It worked. The girl smiled and leaned over her desk and whispered "No, not any more, the last time I saw her was 2 years ago. I think she went back to university."

Connor smiled, showing her his dimple and crumpled his nose a bit before asking if she could give her Abby's last name. She sighed and wrote something down on a piece of paper that she showed him over the desk. He took it and smiled again and thanked her before leaving the zoo behind.

In the car he looked at the paper. There it was. He smiled. Abby Maitland. This was it. He could just hack the university's server with the records of the students and then he would know how to get hold of her.

He drove home and got to work immediately. He started up his computer eagerly, cursing that it was taking so long to get up and running, and then connected up to the internet. It proved to be harder then he thought. The last time he had done something like this was at least five years ago, and since then he only had hacked into the personal files in the ARC … and that was pretty easy. Getting into the university's files was hard and he had been trying for two hours when suddenly his phone rang.

It was Claudia, she wanted to know if he wanted to go out for a pint. After some thought he agreed, took his jacket and left for the pub. They did that on a regular basis. Claudia was only a year older than him and as the two youngest on the team they bonded as friends. Stephen called them 'CC' sometimes when they entered the ARC laughing. Connor looked up to the woman. As an only child he had always wanted siblings and now he had Claudia. She was like a big sister to him and only he could get away with teasing her about her thing with Cutter.

At the Pub he told her everything he had gathered today about Abby and that he now only needed to hack into the files to get her address.

Claudia laughed and patted his head "Oh Connor! You poor man! You know that you just have to make ONE phone call?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Claudia laughed and patted his head "Oh Connor! You poor man! You know that you just have to make ONE phone call?"**

The young man looked at her with a frown. He HAD thought it all out. What did he miss?

" You're too smart to take the simple road? Just call the university. Or better yet, let Nick call the Dean. We have the name and we know she studies there … it's really easy to get hold of her now, if she is so important to you, Puppy."

Connor smiled. The nicknames she gave him always made him smile, and her suggestion really could be the best way to get to Abby.

"Do you think she'll remember us?" He asked Claudia.

"I can still remember her, so yes, maybe."

The last thought Connor had before falling into deep dreamless sleep that night was that he would talk to her soon.

One of the first things Nick Cutter did the next morning was to call his old boss at the university. He explained that he was working with the Home Office now, and that he needed someone who could work with lizards. He had fed him all the crap the government had told them to tell outsiders about the ARC. Cutter asked for promising students who had experience with lizards. The Dean wanted to meet up with Cutter to show him the files of some zoology students, and Cutter agreed.

He and Connor would go to get lunch with the Dean today.

Connor held the three files the Dean had given him in his hand. Cutter and Dean Thomas Price were talking about the good old times, whilst Connor began to look through the files. He really hoped Abby's file was in there.

He glanced at the names and let loose a loud "YES!" When he read Abigail S. Maitland on the last file. He nodded in Cutter's direction and smiled as he opened the file.

Abigail S. Maitland, 24, Zoology, 2 semesters

was written on the front page, and a yellow sticky note attached to the file said:

worked in the Wellington Zoo in Lizard projects.

This was it. He told Dean Price that he needed to talk to the students. The Dean smiled and nodded. If he was surprised that Connor called the shots and not Cutter he never let it show. Connor was allowed to go and talk to the students this very afternoon, right after a lecture.

He explained to the Dean that he would like to offer one of them a job at the "Research Center" assisting them with some work they were doing with rare breeds of lizards. The most promising student was Miss Abigail Maitland. The Dean nodded and was happy that one of his students could be offered a job by the government. He spoke with the professor who gave the lecture to send Abby over to his office.

Connor was getting nervous now. He was only minutes away from meeting Abby.

Two minutes later there was a knock on the door and the Dean called her in. There she was. Abby Maitland. She looked younger than the "other Abby" in the anomaly, but the other Connor looked a bit older than him too. This Abby's hair was longer now than she had it 3 years ago, it was coming down to her shoulders. Her style was still a little punky and the face and the smile were still the same. Connor stood and nodded in greeting when she seemed to recognize him. Dean Price told her about a possible job offer and that Connor would need to interview her for that. Her eyes widened a bit and she nodded.

They agreed to do the interview in the cafeteria on campus and left the Dean's Office.

When the door closed behind them, Abby turned to Connor instantly.

"How is Rex?" she asked him with a smile.

"So … uh … you remember me?" He smiled.

"Sure I do! How could I forget your smile?"

"My … ? Uh … "

Abby laughed when Connor blushed bright red. All Connor could think was: _is she flirting with me?_

Abby began to walk again and asked "Is there really a job?"

"A job? … Oh … yes. There is a job. And it's yours if you want it, but I have to show you something to explain what the job actually is."

"It's mine if I want it? What kind of an interview is this?"

Connor laughed. "We think you could fit in well with us. You like lizards?"

She nodded.

Connor nodded too and turned around. "Where are you going?" Abby called after him.

"To tell the Dean that I don't need to talk to the other two students. I want you!"

Abby giggled and Connor realized what he had said "I mean... uh ... What I wanted to say is … you are perfect for the job, and … WE want you … uh … to work at the ARC, you know!"

Abby waited for him to return and thought about what had happened today. She was surprised to get called into the Dean's Office. When she had seen the other man in the office she had instantly recognized him. He was with the guys who had taken Rex. He looked more mature but no less cute now. A bit of facial hair and a hat gave him a bohemian look. He wore a waistcoat over a T-shirt and a tight fitting black jeans; really, he looked good. The fact that he wore fingerless gloves in June made her smile.

And he was offering her a job! If he was genuine about that, it would be perfect. She needed a job, and to work with lizards was what she wanted. She did, however, have questions about the kind of lizards, because she had done some research in the last 3 years.

When Connor came back to her smiling she smiled at him too, because she found his big dimply grin infectious.

Connor gave her the address of the ARC and told her to meet him in the car park.

Abby got there before him and she waited next to her old green rover mini. It was putting and puffing sometimes, but it was all she could afford.

Connor arrived 5 minutes later and parked right next to her. He got out of the car.

Abby went over to him and got right to it. "Alright. So: First I wanted to tell you that I KNOW that Rex was a Coelurosauravus. SO what I want to know is: WHAT kind of job is this you're offering?"

"You're right. Rex is a Coelurosauravus. He's still here in the ARC if you want to say hi. Actually … I need to show you something that will explain everything. Come on."

Although Abby was suspicious about what she had heard, she followed Connor.

There were security checks when they entered the building and Connor seemed to have an "ALL AREAS" kind of pass. He just told them that she was with him, and it seamed to be okay that she followed him. Abby was impressed by that, Connor only looked a little bit older than herself and he was treated like one of the top men here.

When he stepped into a big round room, he called out to someone called _Becker_ that he needed to come with them into the creatures area. A soldier came over and nodded at her.

"I'm Captain Becker. You must be Abigail Maitland."

"Abby, yes. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand but he just ignored her and turned to walk out of the room.

Connor laughed and whispered "Becker can appear a bit rough at times, but he's actually a really nice guy when you get to know him." before he followed behind Captain Becker. Abby had to practically run to keep up with the two men.

The Captain stopped at a big green double door and Connor zipped his ID Card through a slot at the side. It beeped and then buzzed so that Becker could open it and get in first.

Abby looked at Connor in confusion when the soldier took out a tranquilizer gun.

"Don't worry, it's just precaution. We scientific people are not allowed to go in here on our own, we need a soldier with us all the time. You'll see why in a second."

With that, Abby stepped into the hallway after the Captain and smelt some kind of animals in the area. Connor got in front of her and stopped right in front of a animal habitat of some kind. Abby stepped up to him and looked into the area, but couldn't see anything. Connor climbed over the barrier, knelt down and whistled. "Sid? Nancy? Come here! I want you to meet someone!"

TBC

AN: Reviews make me write (and update) faster ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Abby knelt down as she saw a pair of eyes peek out between the low bushes. The squeaking noise the little animal made gave her the impression that she was looking for a cute fuzzy dog or cat-like creature, but she was surprised when a bulldog without fur and with large teeth came rushing out to greet Connor.

„Hey Nancy. How are you girl? Where's Sid? I want you to meet my friend Abby." He smiled whilst he stroked the strange little creature.

Abby had never seen a creature like it before, except in books when she'd been studying... it looked a lot like a dinosaur.. a small one, but definitely a dinosaur.

She extended her hand to touch Nancy but stopped before she really touched her. Connor looked up and smiled. „It's okay. Really."

Then he took Abby's hand in his and guided her to Nancy's head. The skin felt warm and not at all like she first had thought. It was a little rougher than human skin but the little animal turned away from Connor and scrambled over to where Abby's lap was.

Nancy seemed to like Abby scratching her and petting her, and gave contented squeaks.

Abby smiled, then heard more rustling in the leaves and a second, almost identical face appeared.

The blonde looked at Connor „How's it possible that there are two of them? Why are they here? And _WHAT_ are they?"

„They are Diictodons, late Permian. They live in packs and are very social creatures. They got stranded here, just like Rex." With that he nodded up to the rafters of the habitat where Abby could see the green lizard she had met a few years ago.

Connor sat down Indian style now that the second Diictodon was practically in his lap. „So Abby, I'd like you to meet my friends. This one here is Sid and the little lady's name is Nancy. When we are here they share a room with Rex."

She looked at his face „When you are here?"

„Uh, yes. When I have to work I take them with me, I can't let them alone at home! You wouldn't believe how fast they can chew their way through a wall!"

Abby laughed but with one look at Connor's face she realized that he was telling the truth. She looked up at the other lizard. It was looking down with curious eyes at them.

„And Rex? He stays here all the time?"

Connor shook his head „No, not all the time. Sometimes he comes home with me too."

A wind gust on the back of her neck was all that prepared her. Abby felt a little gust of air on her neck, then she felt Rex settle down on her shoulder.

She held her free hand out to the Coelurosauravus. He immediately nudged her hand with his head. Abby smiled when the lizard allowed her to touch him.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Connor nod his head and stand up.

„So, now you've meet my friends here, do you want to see more or is it too much for you already?"

„There are more?"

At that Connor let out a chuckle. „Sadly, yes. So? Want to see them?"

-o-

After the little cute guys she just had met, the mammoth and the dracorex were a bit scary, but interesting none the less.

There were more than that but these two were the most memorable.

While Abby sat in what appeared to be Connor's office she tried to take it all in. There was paper all over the desk with numbers and formulas all over them. There were technical knick knacks on the shelves and pictures of dinosaurs on the walls. The pictures looked like the computer generated kind, but Abby knew now that they had to be photos of the creatures Connor had encountered. She thought about her day while she looked around.

This cute guy just breezed into her life when she needed it the most. He offered her a job every lizard girl would kill for.

It felt like a dream. The girl she shared a small flat with just told her last week that she had to move out because she wanted to live with her boyfriend. Abby had one more week to find a new room. And money was tight. This job was really what she needed.

When Connor came back into his office with two coffees she smiled as he handed her one of the cups.

"When can I start?" were the first words she said to him.

-o-

Connor waited in his car at the address Abby had given him.

They had agreed that she could start immediately. Lester was happy that they finally had someone for the dreaded Creatures again and Cutter liked her love for lizards.

Connor had seen that Abby was nervous around the two older man and since she seemed to be okay with him around he had stuck by here.

He'd offered to pick her up for her fist day and here he was.

A few minutes later the door opened and Abby stepped out. She screamed something and after dragging out a big bag she slammed the door close again.

On the second floor a window opened and an arm threw out a jacket and one shoe.

As Connor got out of the car he heard a girl scream "I told you to move out! I need the room!"

He got closer to Abby as she answered the unseen girl "You said two weeks! You can't just throw me out now! I already paid the rent for this month!" The window was closed hurriedly after that.

"Abby?" The young man approached her slowly as not to startle her and she turned around to look at him.

"Oh … uh … sorry. That was my room-mate Sherry. _WAS_ being the keyword here."

"And now?"

She shook her head as to clear it and then answered "We go to work. I'll think of somewhere to sleep tonight later. I want to have a clear head for my new charges today."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

The first break Abby had was spent alone at a table in the cafeteria. Connor had to go to look at and deal with some computer stuff and Abby felt alone now. The menagerie was her territory now and she had a feeling that she would have a lot of fun working there. But her living situation made her mind wander. Sherry had just told her this morning that she had to go today because her precious boyfriend would move in early. And to make it even worse, Connor had seen it all.

As a young woman sat down next to her Abby was startled but the welcoming smile the woman gave her made her feel better.

"Hi, you have to be Abby. I'm Claudia. It's nice to have more women working here. It gets lonely in this sea of testosterone."

"Hi. Yes, I'm Abby. Word travels fast here, hu? Does everybody here know me?"

Claudia laughed. "Yeah … well, a beautiful blonde starts to work here. Do you really think this could be a secret for long in a building full of men? That aside: Doctor Temple told us all about you."

"_Doctor_ Temple? You mean Connor?"

Claudia nodded. Her mind wandering already. She wanted her best friend to be happy and if she had to play matchmaker to make him happy, she had no problem with that.

Abby was a bit awed. Connor had told her that he worked for the Home office since they had met. That was three years ago and he couldn't be that much older than Abby.

"Claudia? Can I ask you some questions about the people here?"

Claudia's smile widened. Her mission didn't seem to be a hard one.

"Sure. Shoot!"

"Well … uh. I should start with Connor. Uh … How old is he?"

"25 and just between us girls: If you want to know about him, you can just ask me."

Abby flushed red when she realized that Claudia could see right through her, but she also could give her some answers.

"Okay. Tell me about Connor then. He seems really nice."

-o-

Nick and Connor sat at the ADD and while Connor typed away at the keyboard, Nick's thoughts were guided back to where they all had met.

He had needed some time to be able to catch up with Connor's behavior sometimes. For one, Connor was very young.

All the other students in his classes were at least 3 years older than Connor.

Cutter had known who he was when Connor had followed him and Stephen with the newspaper in hand. Connor had been stuttering and shy back then, stumbling over his own feet but with a very bright mind.

In his office, where Connor had explained about the "anomaly" in the Forest of Dean and he was surprised that there really was something there. Real Permian Dinosaurs. He could see himself in Connor back then.

Connor had proved himself over and over since then. He was important to the team and to Nick personally.

When Connor's friend had been infested and killed by the parasite and Connor had no place to live any more, Cutter had offered Connor a room in his house for the first few months.

Since then, he had wormed his way into his heart. Nick felt protective and proud of Connor.

He had seen how Connor looked at the new girl. And quite frankly he was relieved that Connor finally showed some interest in something other than the anomaly research. The young doctor was always working on something anomaly or dinosaur related. He needed to live a little.

Cutter would have to talk to Claudia about that. Maybe she could talk to Abby.

-o-

In the cafeteria, the girls were still chatting and Abby found that it was nice to have more women to talk to.

Claudia had told her a lot about Connor and from what she had heard, she was impressed with what the young man had already achieved in his live. It was obvious that he and Claudia were good friends by the way she was talking about him.

Cutter walked into a whispered conversation between the two women and smiled as he saw how Claudia''s eyes where sparkling as she laughed loud at something Abby had said. It was good to see her so happy again after Sarah had to leave the team.

The girls seemed to have a good time but stopped whispering as soon as they noticed him approaching them.

"Hello Ladies. Do you mind if I join you?" Abby looked at her watch. She already had spent too much time chatting with Claudia and the look she saw the brunette give Cutter said that she didn't mind to be alone with him, so Abby hastily stood up and said her goodbyes before going back to the menagerie.

-o-

Most of the afternoon was spent fiddling with the ADD for Connor. Since he had 'visited' the dimension the ADD wasn't working like it used to work. He had run diagnostics twice now and everything looked okay as far as he could see. He had started to reattach all the cables and conjunctions again and was currently lying under the main part of the ADD when he heard footsteps echoing in the room.

When he heard Abby's voice asking what he was doing down there he hit his head as he tried to get out under the big computer. Connor was seeing stars as he finally scrambled out from under the frame. He closed his eyes and only could mutter an "Ow!" as he felt for the injury.

He was surprised when he felt Abby's tender hand touch the little bump on his head that was already swelling.

"Shhh, slowly. Here let me see!" her cold little fingers felt around on his head and all he could think about was that it felt nice.

Abby's thought where more around the lines 'Oh god his hair feels nice' and when she only felt a bump and no open wound she kept her hand on the goose egg she had felt and massaged the area around it lightly.

"Ohhh that's nice!" Connors head still felt like it wanted to bust open, but the feeling of Abby's hand on his head made him moan in appreciation.

After what felt like only a second to Connor, Abby helped him up from the floor and onto a chair.

She sat down on another chair and looked him right in the face. "How do you feel? Any nausea? That was a pretty bad crash with the machine you had."

Connor looked up and into her face. "Uh … no. It's okay. And that's not just a machine. That's the ADD."

Her blue eyes fell on the screens and the rotating targets on the screens. "What does it do?"

The young man's face lit up at her innocent question, and he explained how the ADD could find the Anomalies when they opened and how he had built it.

When he looked at Abby he could see that she really was impressed. That was something that he was awed with. In school all the pretty girls had ignored him or made fun of him for his geeky-ness and now this beautiful woman was looking at him and his work and he only could see how interested she was in what he had built.

His mind wandered to this morning and Abby's problem with her living arrangements. The thoughts where still a bit jumbled from the hit on the head he had received and before he could stop himself the words where out of his mouth "You can sleep with me!"

At Abby's startled but amused look he thought about what he had said and he corrected himself "Uh … that's not what I meant. I wanted to say: if you want to, you can have the spare room in my flat. To sleep in, you know?"

Abby nodded and smiled. "That would be great. Thank you so much." To Connor's utter surprise she rose from her chair and hugged him tightly.

-o-

Connor still sat on his chair after Abby left the main room. She had said that she only wanted to get her bag and then she would meet him outside in the parking lot.

He never felt like that before. It was easy for him to talk to Abby and she didn't seem to mind his rambling. Sure, Claudia was his friend, but he had never had any interest in her. She was just 'one of the guys'. Abby on the other hand he was very much interested in. She was something special. From the talk he had with the 'other Abby' he had known that she would be important to his life, but he hadn't expected anything like this. This Abby, his Abby, was like a dream come true for him.

And she was waiting for him in the parking lot.

-o-

Connor's flat had almost everything that Abby had expected.

It had all the technical stuff, a gaming station of some kind attached to the flat screen TV, a computer on the desk, but the flat itself wasn't what she imagined.

After she had climbed up the metal staircase and stood in the large open living room, she could see that there were even more stairs to a second level of the flat. It was open and light flooded in from all the windows. There was a door to what had to be the kitchen right next to a dining table and chairs in one corner of the living space.

Connor showed her the spare bedroom and she instantly fell in love with the room. It had a bed in it that reminded her of old romance novels. The headboard seemed to be hand carved and the bed itself looked old, but in a antique kind of way.

She sat down on the soft mattress and sighed. It felt like coming home to her.

Abby wondered if the offer was a long term offer. She knew she would love it here.

TBC


End file.
